Trolley-pole.



No. 713,599. Patented Nov. I8, I902.

T. C. BUDER.

TROLLEY POLE.

I (Application filed Apr/4, 1902.) (No Model.)

WITNESSES INVENTOR:

1 v A HNEY.

.Farnrvr i rrica THEODORE O. BUDER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TROLLEY=POLE SPEGIFILGATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 713,599,dated November 18, 1902.

Application filed April 4, 1902. Serial No. 101,340. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, THEODORE O. BUDER, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Poles, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to new and useful improvementsin the means ofmaking a trolley adjustable to the curves in a trolley-wire, and has forits object to prevent the displacement of the trolley from the wire,which with existing constructions is a very common occurrence. The meansfor preventing such displacement in my present invention are lo catedadjacent to the trolley head or fork and form, in some sense, aprolongation or extension of the trolley-pole proper.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation. Fig. 2 is a side view.Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the tubular portion of the trolley-head.Fig. t is a side elevation of the movable member 6. Fig. is aperspective view of the same. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of thetubular and cut end portion of the trolley-pole proper, taken out ofconnection with the pole, of which it forms an integral part. Fig. 7 isa top plan view of the tubular end portion of the trolley-pole proper.Fig. 8 is a detail of a ring around the upper portion of thetrolley-pole proper for holding the trolley-rope. Fig. 9 is aperspective view of a modification of my principal invention, and Fig.is a side elevation of the same.

1 indicates the trolley-fork, which may be of any desired form orconstruction.

2 is the upper end of the trolleypole proper.

3 is a rod which is rigidly attached inside a tubular end portion of thetrolley pole proper by the bolts or pins a. Said rod runs through theparts 5 6 7 and through the base or bridge port-ion 8 of thetrolley-fork and has at its uppermost end a threaded portion on whichthe nut 9 is screwed down to the shoulder 10 on the rod Another shoulder11 is formed inside the tubular portion 7 of the trolley-head, and aspring 12 is located between said shoulder 11 and the not 9. The amountof space between said shoulder 11 and the nut 9 is governed by theamount of play which it is deemed desirable to give to the movableparts, it being the intention that said spring 12 shall act as a guardor auxiliary means of returning the parts to their normal position whenthe curve in the wire has been passed, should same be found necessary.

The upper tubular portion of the trolleypole proper 2 terminates in aportion having two right-hand wedge-shaped cuts in its periphery, thebeginning of one of said cuts and the ending of the other beingcoincident, and the lowest part of one of said cuts being the lowestportion of a straight wall rising to the highest portion of the otherout. The place of beginning of both cuts are diametrically opposite eachother and also the places of ending. The lowest portion of said cuts isindicated by the reference-letter 13 and the highest by 14.

The lower part of the tubular portion '7 of the trolley-head is cut in asimilar but opposite manner, the wedge-shaped cuts on said portion beingleft-hand cuts, but otherwise conformingin shapeidentically with thoseon the tubular portion of the trolley-pole proper just described, bothof the tubular portions to which I have just referred encircling the rod3. Also encircling said rod and located between the tubular portion 7 ofthe trolleyhead and the tubular portion 2 of the trolleypole proper is amovable member 6, which has wedge-shaped cuts on its upper and its lowerends or sides, which interlock, respectively, with the cut portions ofthe trolleyhead and the trolley-pole. The part 5 being rigidly connectedto the trolley-pole proper and the trolley-fork 1 being movablyconnected thereto in the sense that it is capable of some verticalmovement on the rod 3, which is rigidly attached to the trolley-pole 2,and the degree of the movement of said trolley-head being limited by thecompression of the spring 12 against the nut 9 when a left-hand curve ofthe trolley-wire is being passed, the tendency of the trolley-fork willnaturally be to accommodate itself to the position of the wire, and inso straining itself into an adjusted position with relation to thetrolley-wire the arms of the fork will turn the part 7 of the fork tothe right. This will cause the wedge-shaped portion 15 of the tubularportion 7 of the trolley-head to ride upward or turn upon thewedge-shaped portion 16 of the movable member 6, moving i "ll away fromthe wall 17 of the movable membet 6 as it does so. The degree of upwardmovement of the portion 15 on the portion 16 is preferablylimited toapproximately onefifth of a turn, and the degree of rotation of thetrolley-fork in its accommodation of itself to the direction of thetrolley-wire is limited at the same time and in the same manner, whichis by reason of the fact that the vertical movement possible for thetrolley-head is predetermined by the compressibility of the spring 12and the amount of space between the shoulder 11 and the nut 9.

When a right-hand curve is being passed, the part 15 of the tubularportion 7 does not ride upontheinclinelGofthepartG;but,onthecontrary,the part 14,which is the lowest portion of the cut on thetubular portion 7, fits down closely against the correspondingprojecting part 14 of the interlocking cut on the upper part of themovable member 6, and the movable member 6 becomes thereby immovablerotatively relative to the trolley-head. The movable member, however, aswell as the trolley-head, turns upon the rod 3, and the part 18 ridesupward on the part 19 of the cut tubular end portion 5 of thetrolley-pole proper. This movement is limited to onefifth of a turn inlike manner and for the same reasons as when the part 15 rides upward onthe part 16, as above described. In either case, since the straightportion of the wire is rigid, the. action of the wire on thetrolley-wheel naturally and quickly returns the trolley-fork to itsnormal position, and this in turn returns the parts 5, 6, and 7 to therelative position substantially indicated in Fig. 2. If for any reasonthe parts should not be returned to their normal position in the mannerdescribed, the force of the spring 12, releasing itself from thecompression caused by the upward movement of the trolley-head, willinsure the prompt return of all the parts to their ordinary position assoon as the reason for the adjustment of the fork to a curve in the wireis at an end.

20 is a ring which fits in a groove around the upper portion of thetrolley-pole proper and is for the purpose of holding the trolleyrope.

In Figs. 9 and 10 of the drawings I have illustrated an alternative formof construction which in the principle of operation bears muchresemblance to that above described and which so far as the arrangementof the rod 3, spring 12, nut 9, and shoulder 11 is concerned dependsupon the same arrangement of parts. In this construction, however, Iomit parts 5, 6, and 7 and substitute in lieu thereof a tubular portion21 at the base of the trolley-head, having in both its sides a portioncut out extending entirely through the walls of the tubular portion of atriangular or wedge shaped form or in the shape of a sugar-loaf, saidtriangular portion being indicated by the numeral 22. A pin 23, rigidlyconnected to the rod 3, runs clear through the tubular portion 21 fromone side to the other, being located within the triangular cuts 22. Whenthe trolley-head turns in rounding a right-hand curve, the pin 23 willslide downwardly upon the side of the tri angle marked 24, and when thetrolley-fork is passing around a left-hand curve the pin 23 will movedownwardly, bearing against the opposite side of the triangle marked 25.The parts are returned to their normal position in this construction asabove described with relation to the first-described form.

It is obvious that many other minor changes in the form and arrangementof the several parts may be made without departing from the nature andspirit of my invention.

Having thus described my said invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a trolley-pole, the combination of a trolley-fork having a tubularportion, a trolley-pole proper having a tubular portion, both saidtubular portions having wedge-shaped cuts in their walls,a mo vablemember located between said tubular portions, and having on its upperand lower edges corresponding cuts interlocking with the cuts on saidtubular portions substantially as described.

2. In a trolley-pole the combination of a trolley-pole proper, having atubular portion, a rod passing through said tubular portion, and rigidlyconnected to the trolley pole proper, wed ge-sha ped cuts on the upperedges of said tubular portion, a trolley-fork having a tubular portion,said rod being extended through the tubular portion of said trolleyfork,means for holding the trolley-fork upon said rod, wedge-shaped cuts uponthe lower edges of said tubular portion of the trolleyfork, and amovable member located between the trolley-fork and trolley-pole proper,having wedge-shaped cuts upon both its upper and lower edges, adapted tofit into like cuts on the trolley-pole proper and trolley-fork,substantially as described.

3. In a trolley-pole, the combination of the trolley-pole proper, a rodrigidly attached thereto, wedge-shaped cuts upon the upper end of thetrolleypole proper, a movable member encircling said rod, havingwedgeshaped outs upon both its upper and lower surface, a trolley-fork,the base portion of which encircles said rod, and having upon its lowersurface Wedge-shaped cuts which fit into those on the movable member,means for holding said trolley-fork upon said rod, a shoulder within thetrolley-fork, and a spring located between said shoulder and means forretaining the fork upon the rod, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto attached my signature, in thepresence of two Witnesses, this 28th day of March, 1902.

THEODORE O. BUDER.

Witnesses:

MAUD LETCHER, HUGH K. WAGNER.

